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3 Stegs to Heaven
'''3 Stegs to Heaven' was a heavyweight robot which competed in Series 5 of Robot Wars and the first series of Robot Wars Extreme. It lost its only battle in Extreme to Tornado, but this prompted the team to make modifications ahead of Series 5, where 3 Stegs to Heaven reached the Heat Final before being eliminated by the eventual runner-up, Bigger Brother. 3 Stegs to Heaven was built after a split in the team saw Steg 2 taken by team member Rob Heasman after Series 4. Rob Heasman competed in Extreme with Oblark. Design 3 Stegs to Heaven was a radical departure from its predecessors, being a two-wheeled, invertible robot painted green and armed with a small vertical cutting weapon at the front. In its original appearance in Extreme 1, the weapon was a double-ended spinning bar, while the robot's wheels were exposed and the top panel decorated with red Stegosaurus-like spikes on its top, which along with its colour scheme paid homage to its original predecessor Steg-O-Saw-Us. At the time, 3 Stegs to Heaven only weighed 72kg. The concept behind 3 Stegs to Heaven was to build the robot small enough in order to be fast and have a nimble turning circle. However, it was untested prior to Extreme 1, and suffered from exposed wheels and numerous other problems that lead to its defeat against Tornado, which compelled the team to redesign it ahead of its Series 5 appearance: In Series 5, 3 Stegs to Heaven's wheels were enclosed with additional armour mounted on the sides and rear of the robot, while its blade was replaced with a larger and thicker cutting disc. The sloped side armour near the robot's spinner were also substituted for flat panels. 3 Stegs to Heaven otherwise retained the same basic design, colour scheme and Stegosaurus spikes as it carried in Extreme 1. While the new cutting disc was fairly effective in causing damage to other opponents, 3 Stegs to Heaven was still vulnerable to being flipped, and notably suffered issues with its drive, becoming immobile on one side even in victory. Etymology Its name was a pun on the phrase three steps to heaven, and also referred to the fact that it was the third in the Steg series of robots, after Series 3 Grand Finalist Steg-O-Saw-Us and Series 4 Semi-Finalist Steg 2. The robot's name came from a competition held in the original Robot Wars Magazine, as the Jurassic Park team did not want to simply call it "Steg 3". The winning name, spelt as 3 Stegs 2 Heaven in the magazine, was coined by a seven-year-old boy known as Mark Coucher. 3 Stegs to Heaven was going to be rebuilt for the Sixth Wars and named Steg 3. However, it is unknown if it attempted to qualify. Robot History Extreme 1 3 Stegs to Heaven participated in the All-Stars Tournament due to Team Jurassic Park having reached the Grand-Final in Series 3 and Semi-Final in Series 4 with their previous robots Steg-O-Saw-Us and Steg 2 respectively. In the first round, 3 Stegs to Heaven faced fellow Series 4 Semi-Finalist Tornado. Here, it lost drive to its right hand side almost immediately, and was repeatedly slammed and pushed around the arena by Tornado. 3 Stegs to Heaven was then hoisted over the Flame Pit by Sir Killalot, with the Jurassic Park team clearly anticipating its defeat in their control pod. Dead Metal dragged 3 Stegs to Heaven to the Floor Flipper, which tossed it into the air, causing it to land upside-down and its blade to hit the floor, as 3 Stegs to Heaven did not have a top castor fitted. The impact broke the chain powering since 3 Stegs to Heaven's blade, and the battle went to a judges' decision as Refbot failed to count it out. Needless to say, the judges ruled in favour of Tornado, eliminating 3 Stegs to Heaven from the All-Stars. 3 Stegs to Heaven was also due to compete in a Mayhem battle, in an attempt to qualify for one of the two Annihilators. However, the team withdrew from the Mayhem to concentrate on modifying the robot for Series 5. Series 5 In the first round of the Fifth Wars, the eighth seed 3 Stegs to Heaven faced a walking robot, Eleven. 3 Stegs to Heaven attacked the walkerbot with its disc, cutting the hydraulic pipe of Eleven, causing fluid to leak. However, 3 Stegs to Heaven got caught on a cable, causing it to become stuck to Eleven. With neither robot able to move well, Refbot counted both machines out and gave the decision to the judges, who chose 3 Stegs to Heaven. It moved on to fight Tetanus in the second round of the Heat, where 3 Stegs to Heaven had another scare. Tetanus easily pushed the seeded machine into the side grinders while 3 Stegs to Heaven was unable to damage Tetanus or push back. Eventually, 3 Stegs to Heaven sliced off one of Tetanus' prongs, but Tetanus lifted 3 Stegs to Heaven off the ground in retaliation. However, once it was released 3 Stegs to Heaven pulled away, only moving on one side, but Tetanus had been fully immobilised after bending its own frame. The barely mobile 3 Stegs to Heaven qualified for the Heat Final. This put 3 Stegs to Heaven through to fight Bigger Brother in the Heat Final, where the seeded machine went in as somewhat of an underdog. Bigger Brother flung 3 Stegs to Heaven around the arena. However, Bigger Brother failed to get 3 Stegs to Heaven out of the arena, before flipping Shunt instead. Sir Killalot grabbed 3 Stegs To Heaven and picked it up. After letting go, Bigger Brother lifted 3 Stegs To Heaven onto the side wall again. Refbot freed it though and Bigger Brother started to attack Sir Killalot. Bigger Brother tried to flip Sir Killalot from the side and rear. Bigger Brother turned 3 Stegs to Heaven over once more before lifting it onto the side wall, where Refbot finally counted it out. Sir Killalot activated the pit and as Bigger Brother was pushing 3 Stegs to Heaven into the pit, Sir Killalot pushed the pair in and drove in himself. Sir Killalot was able to reverse out, and Bigger Brother was the heat winner. This was the only time that the team failed to reach the semi-finals and would also end up being the team's final appearance. Results |} Wins/Losses *Wins: 2 *Losses: 2 Series Record 3stegschassis.jpg|The chassis of 3 Stegs to Heaven during construction 3StegInsides.jpg|The insides of 3 Stegs to Heaven 3stegsconstruction.jpg|3 Stegs to Heaven during construction Team steg-o-saw-us.JPG|The team with 3 Stegs to Heaven in Series 5 3 stegs to heaven enters.png|3 Stegs to heaven enters the arena in Series 5 NOTE: Former team member Rob Heasman took part in Extreme Series 1 with Oblark. Trivia *3 Stegs to Heaven and Gemini are the only non-semi finalists to come from a team with a previous record of consecutive semi-finals. Coincidentally, both of these robots were the number eight seed in their first loss, after reaching the heat final. *Although listed as weighing 96kg during Extreme 1, 3 Stegs to Heaven actually weighed a mere 72kg. *3 Stegs to Heaven was the only robot from Team Steg-O-Saw-Us which had a frontally mounted weapon. It was also the first robot from Team Steg-O-Saw-Us which had a blade instead of a flipper. *Despite its 2-2 win/loss record, 3 Stegs to Heaven was immobilised in some form during all of its battles: **3 Stegs to Heaven survived until a judges' decision against Tornado, but the robot was immobile, and Refbot simply failed to count it out. **3 Stegs to Heaven was fully functional against Eleven, but as it became attached to Eleven through its snagged spinner, Refbot counted out both machines and 3 Stegs to Heaven won the Judges' decision. **3 Stegs to Heaven had lost drive to one of its wheels in its battle with Tetanus, limiting its free movement, but it was still considered more mobile than the completely motionless Tetanus and won the battle. **3 Stegs to Heaven was officially immobilised against Bigger Brother after being stranded on the arena wall. *3 Stegs to Heaven is one of only ten robots to debut in Extreme 1 and to fight in one of the main competition, excluding Typhoon. The others were Axe-Awe, Comengetorix, Fighting Torque, Fluffy, NEAT Machine, Spawn Again, Sub-Version, The Executioner and Draven. *Sir Killalot was present in both of 3 Stegs to Heaven's losses while Sgt. Bash was present in both of its victories. *Eleven was the only one of 3 Stegs to Heaven's opponents to never appear in any other episode or series. *Both robots that beat 3 Stegs to Heaven fought each other in the Extreme 2 All-Stars and won a side competition in that same series. **In both of its defeats, 3 Stegs to Heaven got thrown upside down. External Links *3 Stegs to Heaven website Category:UK Series competitors Category:Series 5 Seeds Category:Robots Profiled in the Ultimate Guide Category:All-Star Robots Category:Robots with puns for names Category:Robots with Cutting Discs Category:Robots from Hampshire Category:Invertible Robots Category:UK Heat Finalists Category:Robots with an equal amount of Wins and Losses Category:Robots that forfeited a place Category:Dinosaur Themed Robots Category:Robots which debuted in Extreme 1 Category:Articles in need of rewriting